France feels fortunate to score late

Published 8:08 pm, Monday, June 30, 2014

France midfielder Paul Pogba (19) celebrates with forward Karim Benzema (top) and other teammates after scoring the first goal late in a 2-0 round-of-16 victory over Nigeria.

France midfielder Paul Pogba (19) celebrates with forward Karim Benzema (top) and other teammates after scoring the first goal late in a 2-0 round-of-16 victory over Nigeria.

Photo: Fabrice Coffrini / AFP / Getty Images

France feels fortunate to score late

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BRASILIA, Brazil — After being touted as one of the World Cup's entertainers, it was a gritty performance which got France through to the quarterfinals in a 2-0 victory over Nigeria on Monday.

France's forward line had made headlines with eight goals in its opening two group games, but there was little flair on display in a hard-fought contest against the African champions.

France needed a late header from midfielder Paul Pogba and an injury-time own goal from defender Joseph Yobo to overcome a robust Nigeria.

The reward is a quarterfinal against Germany on Friday at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium, following the Germans' 2-1 victory over Algeria.

Pogba's goal in the 79th minute followed Nigeria's best spell of the match and came soon after France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had made a crucial save to deny Peter Odemwingie.

“We're not the prettiest or the best, but we can do good things,” France coach Didier Deschamps said after the game. “The deliverance came late. There was a lot of tension because we were up against a very athletic side, and there were a lot of challenges.”

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Nigeria, which had a goal ruled out for offside in the 19th minute after Emmanuel Emenike poked home Ahmed Musa's cross from the left, wasted a lot of second-half possession.

Four years ago, France crashed out of the group stage, shamed a nation by going on strike and was jeered by its own fans and lambasted by politicians in the fallout from an embarrassing tournament.

It's very different situation now.

“I'm proud of my players because we're coming back from very far. I think we've given a lot of pleasure back to our fans,” Deschamps said. “I think there were 5,000 here and millions back home who will feel proud.”

Pogba's crucial goal came after Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama had just made a superb save to tip over Karim Benzema's header. But he flapped at the ball from the ensuing corner, and Pogba pounced in the 79th minute for his first World Cup goal.

That atoned for placing a volley too close to Enyeama in a scrappy first half.

“We have four days left to prepare for another battle,” Deschamps said.